The Science of Conspiracy Theories

The Autism conspiracy

The Autism conspiracy

This is the most disgusting conspiracy theory of recent times. This has to do with the idea that the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccine causes autism in children. Because of the propagation of this theory, many parents elected not to vaccinate their children and several children died of measles and mumps in subsequent outbreaks. This is an example of how media has progressed to the point of causing a frenzy of misinformation.

The problem with autism is that the term is often used to describe a range of disorders that are not true autism. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which means that it's caused by a genetic abnormality (birth defect) during gestation. It's no surprise that all of the agents both chemical and environmental that supposedly cause birth defects have been proposed as the cause of autism. No one really understands what causes birth defects because it involves genetic changes, an extremely complicated science.

The other thing to consider is that there are several forms of autism, and that's the reason it's called ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorders. The three types of ASD are: Asperger's syndrome; Pervasive developmental disorder; and Autistic disorder. Asperger's syndrome is a milder form of what they call a PDD or a pervasive developmental disorder and it involves a lack of social skills. No matter which ASD you talk about, they're all caused by screw ups in the brain, basically how nerve cells and their synapses work. According to Wiki 1.5 % of children in the U.S. are diagnosed with ASD. Brain diseases are the least understood because the brain is very complicated.

The symptoms of autism are easily recognized. They appear in infancy and early childhood and consist mostly of social development problems that involve inability to communicate, repetitive behavior, and unusual abilities. I'm not going to discuss all of these, only to say that they all indicate brain dysfunction. In other words, the brains of autistic children do not work properly and this results in strange behavior.

The causes of autism have not been verifiably proven. There are some interesting theories however. The reason for this is simple: brain chemistry and function are not well understood. We are a long way from understanding how the brain actually works. This is important because some people are convinced that specific agents or environmental effects caused their child's autism. This is so common in the 'blame' society, in which we blame everyone and everything else but ourselves. Who knows what using drugs could do to DNA. Many celebrities used drugs at one time in their lives and this could be the reason for genetic disorders showing up in their children.  You'll see why I mentioned this later.

The reality is that autism more than likely has a number of causes. Genetic mistakes during gestation are a fact of life. Birth defects have been around since our species evolved. It's the result of factors in the environment that we don't fully understand like radiation and chemical contamination.

One thing I do know is that it's DNA mistakes in the parents that are responsible for autism. After the child is born, environmental agents are less likely to cause the disease. The symptoms for autism are just too great to blame it on chemical agents after birth. I can see cancer or encephalitis being caused after birth, but not autism.

Some of the proposed causes involve lead, mercury, lack of vitamin D, thiomerosal-a preservative, viral infection, opiates, autoimmune disease, and the MMR vaccine. None of these proposed infectious agents has been proven to be a definite cause of autism.

The most notorious theory is that MMR vaccine causes it, and the blame for this is a fraudulent 1998 research paper in "The Lancet' by Andrew Wakefield that claimed to have evidence that autism is caused by agents in the MMR vaccine. His paper was subsequently labeled as false and was retracted. Many other medical organizations tried to verify the results of this claim and could find no connection whatsoever between MMR vaccine and autism. This has been termed the most damaging medical hoax in the last 100 years.

But, that didn't stop idiots from propagating this bullshit in the media, which resulted in a drop in vaccinations not only in the UK but also in the U.S. This horrible mistake resulted in many children both in the U.S. and the UK dying or suffering from permanent injuries. To make matters worse, Jenny McCarthy (American model, television host, actress and author) blamed vaccinations given to her son, Evan, for causing his autism and used her fame to spread this nonsense all over the media, including convincing Oprah Winfrey and making it go viral, no pun intended. It resulted in many children dying, especially in California, where weirdness and celebrity eccentricity are worshiped.

The fact is that this fiasco has caused millions of dollars and countless deaths because of parents deciding not to get their children vaccinated during the 2000's. Measles and mumps are potential killers and the vaccines for them should not be avoided, but that didn't stop people from believing the hype and keeping their children from having this protection.

As for mercury and lead causing autism, this could be the cause of genetic changes in the parents, but not their children. The fact is that mercury and lead are in the environment in much higher concentrations than in a vaccine. Mercury compounds are used in tiny amounts to prevent bacteria in vaccines.

This is what drives me nuts. People believe these celebrities who know nothing about science. These gods of the media use their status to sell books, become more famous, and attract more attention. These people are airheads. They live in the glory of fame and fortune, but are not experts or authorities. Unfortunately, they can cause a lot of damage. The fact is, her child's symptoms were more like Landau-Kleffner syndrome, which is often misdiagnosed as autism.

Autism is a genetic disorder that is the result of parental DNA being altered. Autism is not like an infection or something that affects the child after born. There are lots of things like lead, mercury and other chemicals that can cause mental disorders after birth, but they are more associated with lower IQ or retardation, which could be caused after birth.

The thing to remember is that celebrities are not authorities. They don't know what they're talking about. Don't believe them.

Thanks for reading.